Opinions on Implementing a State Organ Responsibility System for Popular Legal Education in which "Whoever Enforces the Law and Teaches the Law"

Promulgating Entities: General Office of the Communist Party Central Committee, General Office of the State Council
【Date of Issue】2017年5月17日
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State organs are the entities that formulate and implement state laws, and at the same time, they bear duties for popular legal education. The fourth plenary session of the 18th Party Central Committee clear put forward a responsibility system for legal education for state organs in which 'whoever enforces the law, teaches the law". The following opinions on the state organ responsibility system for legal education in which 'whoever enforces the law, teaches the law". are issued so as to complete systems for publicity and education on law, to implement state organs' responsibility for popular legal education, and to further complete efforts on popular education by state organs.

I. General Requirements

(1) Guiding Ideology

Earnestly implement the spirit of the 18 Party Congress and its third, fourth, fifth, and sixth plenary sessions; adhere to the guidance of Deng Xiaoping Theory, the important thought of Three Represents and the Scientific Outlook on Development; thoroughly implement the spirit General Secretary Xi Jinping's series of important talks and new concepts, thinking, and strategy for governance; focus closely on advancing the overall arrangement of "5 in 1" and the stategic arrangement of the 'four comprehensives; fully implement the Party Central Commissions' policies and allocations for publicity and education on the rule of law, follow the requirements of having "whoever enforces the law teach the law", further clairfy the responsibilities and tasks of state organs for popular legal education, complete work mechanisms, strengthen oversight inspections, continuously advance the through carrying out of popular legal education by state organs, strive to form a work layout with unifies of party committees, departments dividing labor and responsibility, and each performing their own duties and making concerted efforts, to make an active contribution to comprehensive governance in accordance with law.

(2) Basic principles

Persist in combining popular legal education with legal practice. Integrate publicity and education on the rule of law with the entire process of legal practice, enhance publicity and legal education in the course of legal practice, and continuously increase the actual impact of state organs' publicity and education on the rule of law.

--- Persist in giving equal emphasis to popular legal education within the system and popular legal education for the public. At the same time that state organs have responsibility for performing popular legal education within the system, they are also to actively take responsibility for popular legal education aimed at society; striving to raise the legal caliber of state employees and enhancing the legal awareness of the public.

--- Persist in integrating the leadership of central and local government authorities and in having close coordination. State organs' popular legal education is to combine departmental management and regional management, strengthening connectivity and cooperation between departments and localities, improving work mechanisms for popular legal education with divisions of labor and responsibility and joint participation, and forming a joint workforce for popular legal education.

--- Persist in starting from practice and emphasizing real impact. Based on the actual conditions at state organs and in consideration of the characteristics of departmental work, innovate concepts, work mechanisms, and methods for popular legal education, actively promote the implementation of all responsibilities for popular legal education, and truly enhance the focus and efficacy of popular legal education.

II. Duties and Tasks

(1) Establish a responsibility system for popular legal education. State organs should make popular legal education a fundamental effort in advancing the establishment of rule of law, include it in the departments' overall work arrangements, and synchronize it with other operational allocations, inspections, and implementation. In accordance with the requirements of the responsibility system for popular legal education, draft departmental popular education plans, annual popular legal education plans, and lists of popular legal education responsibilities, clarifying the tasks and work requirements for popular legal education. Establish and complete leadership and working bodies for popular legal education, clarifying the specific departments and personnel responsible.

(2) Clarify the content of popular legal education. Thoroughly study and publicize General Secretary Xi Jinping's important exposition of comprehensive governance in accordance with law; publicize the Party Center's important allocations for comprehensive governance in accordance with law with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core. Highlight study and publicity of the Consitution and laws, carrying forward their spirit, and establishing their authority. Thoroughly study and publicize the socialist legal system with Chinese characteristics; thoroughly study and publicize laws and regulations related to the departments' responsibilities, and enhance state employees' ability to perform duties in accordance with law, especially the ability of leading cadres to use legal thinking and methods to carry out their work, and increasing the extent to which the public is aware of relevant laws and regulations. Thoroughly study and publicize internal Party rules, enhancing and expanding Party members' awareness of the Party Constitution, rules, and discipline. Persist in concurrently carrying out education and governance, actively advancing state organs' legal practice activities, and continuously raising the level to which social governance is brought under the law.

(3) Truly do a good job of efforts on popular legal education in the corresponding systems. Complete and improve the legal study systems of state organs' Party groups (Party committees) theoretical study centers, and persist in having leading cadres lead the way in respecting, studying, following, and using the law. Complete and improve systems for routine legal study, advancing the normalization of legal study by state employees. Strengthen training in rule of law for state employees, making the Constitution, laws, and internal Party rules an important component; establish a system for study and training on newly promulgated state laws and internal party rules, continuously increasing the quality of training. Strengthen testing and evaluations of state employees' study and use of the law, and improve assessment mechanisms. Forcefully carry out activities on 'the law entering state organs", and establishing a culture of law in organs to create a positive environment for studying law in the organs.

(4) Fully utilize the processes of drafting laws, regulations, rules, and judicial interpretations to carry out popular legal education for the public. During the drafting of laws, regulations, rules, and judicial interpretations, public comments should be heard widely on significant matters of high public interest or that involve vital public interests. Unless required to be kept confidential in accordance with law, drafts of laws, regulations, rules, and judicial interpretation should be disclosed to the public for the solicitation of comments, and the design of related systems should be explained, mobilizing broad participation from all aspects of society. Strengthen communication with the public, promptly alerting the public to the circumstances for solicitation of comments, and enhancing the public's understanding and knowledge of law. After laws, regulations, rules, and judicial interpretation are released, use easily-understood language to display the important content such as the rights and obligations of citizens, legal persons, and other organizations, and the remedy methods on government websites, through news media publications, or in public venues, to facilitate the public's understanding.

(5) Carry out popular legal education for the public on hot topics and difficult issues. In the course of handling hot topics and difficult issues of public concern in areas such as education, employment, healthcare, land requisition, food safety, environmental protection, production safety, and social assistance, the law enforcement and judicial organs should strengthen explanations of policies, laws, and regulations for parties, other litigation participants, administrative subjects, interested parties, as well as key groups, combining the resolution of disputes and conflicts with publicity and education on laws and regulations, making popular legal education permeate the entire process ex-ante through ex-post, letting the public study legal knowledge during the resolution of issues, establishing a concept of law in which all are equal before the law with consistent rights and obligations. Organize law enforcement and judicial personnel as well as expert scholars to conduct authoritative legal exposition and organize popular legal education lecture groups and volunteers to widely carry out publicity and talks aimed at hot issues online, carrying forward the spirit of rule of law and correctly guiding public opinion.

(6) Establish a system for judges, procurators, administrative law enforcement personnel, and lawers to use cases to explain the law. In the course of handling cases, judges and procurators should implement the system of using cases to explain the law, using each stage in the handling of the case to explain and publicize the law, answer questions, and eliminate confusion. Legal documents such as judgments, rulings, procuratorial appeals, and decisions shall give full explanations revolving around areas of contention, thoroughly explaining the law. The use of cases to explain the law should be carried out through vivid methods such as public proceedings, traveling courts, live broadcasts of court hearings, uniformly placing effective legal documents online, and holding open inquiries. During administrative law enforcement, administrative law enforcement personnel should consider the case situation in fully explaining the law and reasoning, and notify the subject of the administrative law enforcement of the relevant legal basis, remedy channels, and so forth. All levels of judicial-administrative organs should strengthen the education and training of lawyers, encouraging and supporting lawyers in using cases to notify parties of relevant legal rights, obligations, and related legal procedures etc., and promptly answer legal questions during activities such as criminal defense, litigation representation, providing legal consultation, drafting legal documents, serving as a legal consultation, and participating in handling conflict and disputes; and thoroughly complete efforts to explain the law and reasoning when participating in petition cases related to litigation, guiding parties to express their demands in accordance with law, reasonably protecting lawful rights and interests, and consciously using legal tactics to resolve disputes and conflicts. Adjudication organs, procuratorate organs, administrative law enforcement organs, and judicial-administrative organs should strengthen efforts on the collection, sorting, research, and publication of example cases, establishing a pool of resources for using cases to explain the law, giving play to the functions of example cases in guidance, regulation, prevention, and education. Organize judges, procurators, administrative law enforcement personnel, and lawyers to carry out routine activities using case to explain the law by going to state organs, towns and villages, communities, enterprises, units, and so forth.

(7) Innovate work methods for popular legal education. While consolidating the basic fronts for publicity at state organ desks and announcement boards, actively explore using new mediums for popular legal education publicity such as electronic displays and electronic touch screens, constructing and using legal publicity and education bases to include legal education in the citizen education system and establishing courses on legal knowledge in primary and secondary schools. Give full play to the advantages of traditional media such as radio, television, and newspapers, and continuously innovate legal education and publicity and education through diverse formats such as popular legal education programs, columns, and channels, to enrich and diversify publicity and education on rule of law. Further deepen judicial disclosures, relying on modern information technology to construct a judicial sunshine project. Emphasize reliance on new media technologies such as government websites, professional popular legal education websites, microblogs, micro-video, and client terminals in carrying out popular legal education activities, striving to establish a multi-tiered, three-dimensional, and comprehensive network for legal publicity and education. Persist in the guidance of the Core Socialist Values, increase and strengthen the establishment of a culture of the rule of law, and while doing a good job of routine publicity, fully use events like national constitution day and the anniversaries of the promulgation and implementation of laws to actively organize and carry out consolidated popular legal education activities, continuously enhancing the efficacy of publicity on the rule of law.

III. Organization and Leadership

All levels of Party committee (Party group) should greatly emphasize strengthening the leadership of popular legal education efforts. All levels of state organ should fully recognize the important function of the popular legal education responsibility system in completing mechanisms for legal publicity and education and advancing the establishment of a nation with socialist rule of law, and put the establishment of the popular legal education responsibility sytem on the agenda of important items, promptly research and resolve major issues in popular legal education work, and strengthen personnel, financial, and material safeguards to create conditions for popular legal education work. Make the implementation of the popular legal education responsibility system an important component of establishing the rule of law, including it in state organs' work targe evaluations and governance level evaluations for leading cadres, and promoting making each requirement of that departments' popular legal education responsibility system a reality. Higher level state organs should strengthen oversight inspections of lower level state organs' establishment and implementation of the popular legal education responsibility system, strengthen work guidance, and ensure that popular legal education work achieves real impact. For comprehensive laws, all relevant departments should strengthen coordination and cooperation, enhancing the overall social efficacy of publicity on the rule of law.

All levels of judicial-administrative organs and small leadership group offices for popular legal education on governance in accordance with law should give full play to their functions and roles in strengthening guidance and inspections of state organ's popular legal education efforts and should strengthen organization and coordination for laws and regulations that involve multiple departments, to form a joint workforce. Inter-ministerial meetings should be regularly convened to research and resolve challenges and issues encountered in departments' popular legal education work and to promote the implementation of the popular legal education responsibility system. Mechanisms for the evaluation and incentives of popular legal education should be established and improved and evaluation and assessment systems established; consult the annual popular legal education plan and list of popular legal education responsibilities to strengthen inspections and evaluations of state organs' implementation of the popular legal education responsibility system, and give commendation and awards in accordance with relevant state provisions to state organs that have implemented their responsibility and have notable success in popular legal education work; departments that do not implement their responsibility or do not complete targets for popular legal education work are to be reported and circulated. Attention should be paid to considering good methods for implementing the popular legal education responsibility system, actively spreading successful experience in popular legal education work, strengthening publicity, and continuously increasing the level of state organs' popular legal education work.

Each region and department should research and draft specific measures based on the spirit of these Opinions and earnestly organize their implementation.